WHITEMARSH — With one eye on the scoreboard, Malvern Prep traveled to Germantown Academy Tuesday looking to, at least, keep pace with Episcopal Academy in the crowded-at-the-top Inter-Academic League standings.

And after a slow start, that’s what the Friars did, overwhelming the host Patriots, 14-4, while Episcopal was slipping past Haverford School in overtime, 9-8.

Thus, Malvern (9-1, 4-1) remains in second place, a game back of the Churchmen and now two up on the third-place Fords.

Ryan Hilburn led the way with three goals and two assists, while Chris Hilburn had three goals, Tommy O’Connor had two goals and two assists and Conor Glancy added a goal and three helpers.

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The slow start, which saw Malvern manage only five first-half goals against the Patriots, was the result of a change in GA strategy.

“GA opened up in a zone (defense), and we weren’t ready for it,” said Ryan Hilburn. “But Coach (John Mcevoy) called a timeout and we re-adjusted. And we were able to get our attack going.

“Two years ago, (GA) played zone on us, but they didn’t last year. So we weren’t expecting it at first.”

The Friars also showed off their ravenous pursuit of the ball. In a contest that featured more balls on the ground than those gathered at the 150-yard marker at the local driving range, Malvern got to nearly all of them.

“The credit goes to Malvern,” said Patriots first-year head coach Brian Grady. “They are a very talented team and they do a lot of things very well, and one of those things is go after loose balls.”

“Getting groundballs is something we focus on in practice,” Hilburn said. “We’d like to think we’re the tougher team.”

The Friars controlled time of possession, but led only, 1-0, midway through the first quarter.

Then, Ryan Hilburn and Gavin Weaver scored 80 seconds apart late in the period to push the lead to 3-0 after one.

GA (1-11, 0-5), which was hindered by failures to both collect groundballs and to clear its defensive zone throughout the game, got on the board early in the second period when Garrett Trucksess converted a pass from Jimmy McAfee, but the Friars got goals from Chris Hilburn and Ryan Hilburn (in the half’s final minute) to go into the break up by four.

With the GA zone solved, the Friars put the contest away in the third quarter, getting a pair of goals from Chris Hilburn and another from O’Connor, all in a 2:36 span midway through the third, and it was clear sailing the rest of the way.

“Our task is to try and maintain a high level of play,” Grady said. “We see it at times, but we have to be able to maintain it for longer periods.”

And as the Friars revelled in their latest win and kept tabs on the Episcopal-Haverford game, Grady could only think ahead to a time when his Patriots team is doing the same thing.

“We have to just focus on coming to work and trying to improve,” the coach said. “It’s going to be a process for us to get to that level.”